


SG1: Unsolved

by its_too_cliche_24



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Stargate SG-1
Genre: Demon Shane Madej, F/M, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Don't Even Know, Language, M/M, Multi, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej if you squint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2019-12-25 15:39:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18264320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_too_cliche_24/pseuds/its_too_cliche_24
Summary: Everyone thought Ricky Goldsworth was just a bit.They were wrong.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is by far the weirdest crossover I've ever written. I honestly can't believe I'm actually going through with it.
> 
> I also can't believe how much I love it.
> 
> I promise my other crossovers aren't so weird.

“These symbiotes were a waste of our time,” a man hissed, slamming his hands down on the table.

Glass cylinders containing the symbiotes clattered against each other. The scientists cringed, torn between saving their creations or cowering in fear.

“I wanted to weaponize these, but you imbeciles couldn’t even even figure out how to make them correctly!”

“But, s-sir, it’s impossible to synthesize them correctly without an actual-”

“Do you see many of those lying around anymore?” He shouted, jabbing a finger towards the only one brave enough to speak up. She shrunk back, closing her mouth.

“Ever since the TRUST fell, we’ve had to work in the shadows and watch the Goa’uld wither away…”

He fixed his glare on the surrounding scientists.

“But if you insist,” he mused, and picked up one of the tubes thoughtfully.

And popped the top.

“What are you doing?” The scientist whispered, horrified.

“Proving a point,” he sneered.

With a flick of his wrist, the symbiote launched out of it’s tube and burrowed into the scientist's neck. A blood curdling scream shook the room, rattling the glass. Her eyes glowed a bright, fleeting, yellow. Everyone in the room stood on edge - if the experiment worked, she was a goner, but if it hadn’t, they were goners.

She gasped, clawing at the entry wound.

“Get it out, get it out, getitout _getitoutgetitoutgetitoutgetitout_ ,” she fell on the floor sobbing.

A couple rushed to help her, but the man had more important things to attend to.

“My point exactly,” he said, voice heavy with disdain.

“Get rid of them all and start over - I expect better results this time.”

The scientist still sobbed on the floor, those with her unable to console her.

“We wouldn’t want a repeat.”

 

~~~

 

_It cannot survive here._

_It is losing itself in this other mind._

_But who is It?_

_It does not know._

_These...Goa’uld...they say it is supposed to be one._

_Ah, yes, there it is. This host knows much about The Goa’uld._

_Ra, Apophis, Anubis, Ba’al. They all sound like mighty Gods._

_It is supposed to be a God._

_It is a God._

_A God cannot survive without an identity._

_It cannot survive with an identity._

 

~~~

 

All Ryan wanted to do was go to the store for some snacks. That’s it. But then _Shane_ wanted some _groceries_ and since _Ryan_ was going to the _store_ then did he really _have_ to?

He should’ve made him go get his own fucking groceries.

Seriously, how was he supposed know what kind _ointment_ Shane wanted? Who makes another man buy his _ointment_? That was plain wrong. He had to make sure it didn’t happen again.

As he stood there debating whether Shane would hate Sweet Pineapple & Honey Melon or Apple Blossom Lavender more (they both smelled ridiculously good, why couldn’t men have these kinds of lotions?), a lady bumped into him, dropping her groceries in the process.

“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry,” Ryan apologized, turning around to help her.

“No, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she hurried, repeating herself a few more times afterwards, before she shook herself out of her stupor.

Ah, the druggies in LA never got old.

The groceries Ryan managed to help pick up, she really was squirreling them away like a madman, they were really odd out of context. Tweezers, rubbing alcohol, cotton balls...he was not going to crack a joke in front of this crackhead. She snatched the remaining things from Ryan and stood up.

“Hey, quick question,” Ryan asked, holding up the bottles, “which would you go with?”

She looked up at him like she couldn’t believe he was asking her something so dumb. “Um, apple blossom?”

“Thanks!” Ryan grinned at her, and dropped the lotion in his basket. Oh, if she only knew.

She took off down the aisle, never to be seen again. What a weird character. He headed off towards checkout.

Jeez, maybe he should pick up some ibuprofen first. He had a pain in his neck that just would _not_ go away!

 

~~~

 

“Ryan, what the fuck is this?” Shane picked up the bottle of lotion from the bag.

“Hey, I don’t know what kind of lotion you like!” Ryan said defensively, hiding a smirk behind his case file folder.

“Ooh, smells nice.”

“Yeah it was either that or Sweet Pineapple & Honey Melon, but the crackhead I ran into said Apple Blossom Lavender was the way to go.”

“Aw, I like honey melon.”

“Then next time you go to the store!” Ryan threw the crumpled up receipt at him.

He rolled his eyes, definitely not smiling behind his folder, and went over the case again.

“You ready for this?”

“Alright, hit me with the facts.”

 

~~~

 

_It cannot survive here._

_The other host grew weak. It was unable to provide for them both in It’s current situation. The other host will most certainly die regardless._

_This host is...interesting. Too bad he will die when It has to find a new host. That is the only way It will survive._

_Perhaps The Tall One will be a sufficient host._

_Perhaps...but there is an odd energy from that one, something It does not recognize. Not even with the memories of the other host._

_It will not try to enter The Tall One._

_The two men discuss something It doesn’t know about._

“Is is weird back then that you could just, pretend to be someone?” _The Tall One speaks. It thinks he knows exactly what that’s like._

“You could still do that today!” _It’s host speaks. The sensation is strange. It should be the one in control, yet It is not. It is as if It’s body is moving without It wanting to._

“Nah.”

“I bet you I could check into a hotel right now and say my name is, uhhh…… Ricky Goldsworth.”

_Ricky...Goldsworth?_

_It could see the thoughts It’s host was concocting about this fictional character. This unknown entity that It could possess._

_It could assume control with this...Ricky Goldsworth._

_Yes…_

_The Tall One begins poking holes in his host’s idea. Holes that he cannot keep up with. But Ricky can._

“What’s the fucking hold up?” _Ricky snaps, startling The Tall One, along with his host._

_He does not have full control yet. No. Ricky Goldsworth needs more time to gain control._

“I’m trying to check into a room and you’re giving me a goddamn inquisition? Is this how you treat all your customers?”

_The host takes back control he didn’t know he’d lost, and they resume their video. Ricky lets them. His time will come. For now, he can survive._

 

~~~

 

_It is not a long wait before Ricky resurfaces again. He’s been waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He wants them to worry. But not too much. They can’t think his host has been possessed by a “demon” or “ghost”, because they will find something more disturbing than they could ever imagine._

_He listens as they answer questions from those who watch their videos, a common occurrence from what Ricky has found in his host’s mind. He has also seen the hate his host has for the “performance” The Tall One puts on at the end of each episode. The dreaded Hot Daga._

_He almost misses his opportunity thinking about that, but luckily, he does not._

“After the hot dog saga ends, I’d love to hear more about Ricky Goldsworth and what he gets up to. Maybe in a fictional world he was friends with CC Tinsley or perhaps DB Cooper? Just a thought.”

_Mmm, yes. The fans were giving him just the recognition he deserved - and the opening he needed._

“All I know is, Ricky Goldsworth may come back. Just don’t make him angry.” _Ricky said smoothly, sliding into control over his host. It was so effortless, so flawless, no one could tell. The Tall One didn’t like this, but Ricky knew he had no clue why._

_Ricky didn’t like The Tall One._

“Wha- Would we like him when he’s angry?” _The Tall One wishes to believe this is a skit that the host didn’t tell him about. He is wrong._

“Why don’t you stop asking me questions?”

“Oh, Jesus!”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean for him to come out like that. Sometimes I gotta suppress him down.” _Blast it all. This host is too powerful still. Perhaps it's because he thinks this character he made up is just one he can slip into naturally. He needs to be convinced otherwise._

“You may be possessed by the spirit of Ricky Goldsworth!”

“Ha, I’m not possess- Shut up.” _Keep them all on edge. They will fear the name Ricky Goldsworth._

“Give me the fucking phone,” _he snapped, and snatched the phone away from the brother of his host. He wouldn’t let control be ripped away from him so easily._

_The Tall One keeps making light of him, still too dumb to understand this is not a bit._

“That’s the way I like it,” _he continued, staring straight at the camera._

_These fans seem to want more of Ricky Goldsworth. He was more than willing to keep them demanding. Soon, with their help, he’d never let his host back up for air._


	2. Chapter 2

“I didn’t want to come to you, but it’s getting worse and I don’t know to stop it.”

A nervous wreck of a girl showed up at Sam’s door, pale and sickly. She told Sam all about the experiment her employers had been running. To be exact, how it all went horribly wrong.

“I really didn’t want to but I needed the money,” she babbled, the waterworks starting again.

Sam almost didn’t believe her, but the story checked out. They were trying to recreate a species perfectly without the original, it was bound to go wrong in some way. Given the girl’s story, the symbiote probably had enough time to attach itself to her immune system before dying, leaving her to gradually get weaker and weaker. It just figured this all happened on Sam’s vacation time. Perfect timing.

“Let’s get you to the base.”

Dr. Lam made short work of her.

“There’s no symbiote at all,” She stated, eyeing the girl’s vitals. Sam’s blood ran cold. “However, you’re immune system has been compromised like there was one. General-”

“Already on it,” Sam said gravely, pointing to one of the guards at the door. “Shut down the base, no one gets in or out!”

Saluting, he ran out of the room down the hall.

“Have Teal’c and Vala round up everyone and take them to isolation so we can scan them,” she directed to the other guard.

The girl sat on the bed, trembling. Either she was a really great actress or she really was innocent in all of this. Whichever case is ended up as, Sam had to get everything she could out of her.

“And you,” she pointed at the girl, startling her, “tell me _everyone_ you’ve come into contact with since you were infected.”

This was going to be a very long night.

 

~~~

 

It wasn’t very often that Daniel found himself alone, anymore. Not that it was a bad thing, he’d been alone often enough to last him a lifetime. Still, he had to admit it had its perks. He could listen to his music as loud as he wanted without the inevitable looks and wisecracks from Jack, or just enjoy the peace and quiet. Probably the best thing that came with this kind of alone was that he knew it would end. He didn’t have to wonder when anyone, _if_ anyone, would drop by and take his loneliness away. No, this was way better.

Daniel was enjoying said alone time by curling up on the couch with a particularly thrilling book about the latest archeological finds, when his phone rang. When he saw the icon, he grinned.

“Hey, how’s vacation?” He asked, looking around for his bookmark.

Ah, there it was, on the cushion right next to him. Right underneath the sleeping cat. Of course.

A heave sigh came through the phone.

“Not much vacationing actually,” Sam replied, sounding way too tired.

Daniel sympathized with a wince. He remembered those well - didn’t miss them much either. At least he knew his vacation time would be uninterrupted, that was never a given with Sam. The worst thing he had to deal with anymore was wasting his free time grading papers, but to be honest, he loved what he did now. He’d had his time rushing around to save the world, he didn’t envy Sam in the slightest.

“What’s going on?” He questioned, tugging the bookmark away from the cat.

She retaliated with an unhappy yowl.

“Well, the TRUST just resurfaced.”

Daniel paused, hovering with the bookmark just above the page.

Oh boy. This conversation was going to require another cup of coffee.

 

~~~

 

Jack wasn’t going to lie, he took advantage of Cam everytime he came up for business.

_“Oh, you don’t need to stay in a hotel! Come stay with us, we have plenty of room!”_

_“Hey, while you’re up here, I know this_ great _little fishing spot a couple hours out of town.”_

You could say he was an evil mastermind.

Daniel never wanted to go fishing but he would, begrudgingly. Bringing one of his boring books along. That was worse than flat out complaining the whole time. But whenever Cam came up to Virginia, he just couldn’t say no to Jack. Of course he and Daniel knew exactly what Jack was doing, but they didn’t really care. It meant Daniel had the house to himself for a little while, and Cam didn’t _hate_ their fishing trips.

This one had been a pretty successful trip, they’d have some great fish dishes in the future. It’d only taken them an entire day.

“Lucy, we’re home!” He called as they stepped into the house.

Daniel jumped up from the couch, dislodging their cat who let out a mew of protest.

“Thank goodness,” he sighed in relief.

Jack noticed the bags on the couch, immediately in military mode. He felt Cam tense up next to him and knew he’d done the same.

“What happened?” Jack asked, dropping the cooler and crossing the room to put his hand on Daniel’s arm.

Daniel covered it with his own, a serious look in his eyes.

“The TRUST resurfaced.”

What? Those old coots again?

“Is Sam alright?” Cam asked, appearing beside Jack, concern written on every corner of his face.

Daniel nodded, then launched into the story Sam had told him. The TRUST trying to _make_ snakes? And one of them actually managed to get _loose_? What a blast from the past. And he’d finally thought he’d left the Goa’uld behind him. Apparently nothing could ever be so easy.

“We’ve got a flight to catch in an hour, I packed our bags,” he looked at Jack, then turned to Cam, “I figured you’d have enough time to pack yours before we have to leave.” Cam nodded and headed towards his room. Officially it was the guest room, unofficially it was Cam’s room because The Man had him coming to DC so often. Better than the hotel rates, and he sure as hell didn’t plan on moving up here anytime soon.

“Is there enough time for me to hit the shower?” Jack joked, knowing how much Daniel hated the smell of fish.

With a good natured eye roll, Daniel leaned in to give him a quick kiss. As he pulled away, his nose wrinkled.

“Sadly, there’s not.”

Jack laughed and pulled him in for a real kiss, fish smell be damned.

“What about Missy over there?” He asked as they pulled apart, nodding to the cat. “And your classes?”

Daniel smirked and shook his head. Of course, it was bold of Jack to assume he hadn’t already figured that out.

“Dolores, the sweet old woman next door? She said she’d check in on Missy every couple of days to make sure she’s okay, and the college is looking for a substitute as we speak.”

“You’re amazing Dr. O’Neill.”

“You’re not so bad yourself General-”

“Alright, alright, as cute as this is,” Cam emerged from the hallway holding his bags, “we have a plane to catch.”

 

~~~

 

“I’m glad you could come on such short notice,” Sam said gratefully, giving Jack and Daniel a hug.

“The TRUST making a comeback? Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Jack quipped, with a classic Daniel eye roll to punctuate his words.

“We want to help in any way we can,” Daniel assured her.

She smiled gratefully at them, then turned her attention to Cam. They both knew that as glad as she was to see them, she really wanted Cam there.

“You picked a hell of a time to go to DC,” she teased.

“And you picked a hell of a time to take a vacation,” Cam returned, kissing her on the cheek.

They sat in the briefing room while Sam filled them in on what they’d missed. Each of them nursing a cup of coffee to deal with the jet lag. Besides, what’s a better comfort than a nice hot cup of coffee? The girl they currently had in lockdown had given them a list of people she’d worked with, including her supposed boss. Teal’c, Vala, and their team had tracked down a few of the other scientists, but the boss was an enigma. Probably hadn’t used his real name in case something like this happened. As Sam put it, she thought the girl was telling the truth but she wasn’t willing to bet her life on it.

“Is that _my_ Daniel?” An all too familiar voice interrupted the conversation.

Daniel sighed, turning around in his chair.

“Hello, Vala - _what are you_ , nonononono-”

His protests were silenced when Vala landed on him with a running jump. The chair skidded away from the table with impressive speed, carrying them both away with it.

“Hello Daniel,” she said suavely, grinning down at him.

All he could respond with was a groan. Jack barked a laugh, quickly covering it with a cough. Not quick enough before Daniel sent him a warning glare. It wasn’t that Jack liked seeing another person hitting on his husband, but Vala brought out the worst in Daniel and Jack absolutely ate it up.

“JackO’Neill, DanielO'Neill, it is good to see you,” a booming voice came from the doorway.

“There he is!” Jack greeted, going over and clapping Teal’c on the back.

He really hadn’t changed over the years, other than the amount of hair that they were all still getting used to. He nodded at Jack with a smile, and surveyed the room.

“It’s been many years since we’ve all been in the same place together,” he observed.

“You’re telling me!” Vala exclaimed in agreement, glaring down at Daniel.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. You can get off now.”

“Oh, I know.”

Another snort from Jack.

“I just wish it was under better circumstances,” Sam said, bringing them all back to the reality of their situation, “did you guys get any new leads?”

Teal’c shook his head, taking the seat next to Jack. He looked tired, and honestly so did Vala, but she hid it well. They had to be running on fumes at this point.

“Maybe we should question her again, she might not be leaving anything out intentionally but we might not know everyone she’s actually come into contact with.” Cam piped up.

Good point, Daniel felt dumb for not thinking of it sooner. From the sound of it, this girl had been plenty traumatized. Even if it wasn’t as powerful as the Goa’uld they all knew and loved, it still had to be quite the experience.

“I should question her,” Daniel volunteered.

They turned to him, the obvious question written all over their faces. Well, all of them except Vala, who was too busy playing with his hair.

“Well, if _I_ were that girl, I know _I’d_ tell Daniel _everything_ he wants to know.” She purred.

It astounded Daniel that Jack just _let_ her do these things. Especially with a smile on his face.

“Yes, thank you…”

“She’s got a point,” Sam mused, tapping her pen against the table.

A moment later, she nodded. “Alright Vala, let him loose.”

 

~~~

 

Sam really hadn’t been kidding when she said this girl was a nervous wreck. Before Daniel even sat down he could see her start shaking. Hopefully he hadn’t grown rusty over the years.

“Hello, how are you this morning? That is, if it is morning. Jet lag can really mess with you,” Daniel chuckled, smiling warmly at the girl.

“I’m fine,” she said softly.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I ever caught your name!”

“...It’s Hannah.”

“Nice to meet you, Hannah. My name’s Daniel.”

She nodded at him, making no move to give him any more than that. Just to be safe, Daniel waited a moment longer.

“I already answered their questions,” she said wearily.

“I know, and we’re all extremely grateful for what you’ve given us.”

“...But?”

“We still haven’t been able to find the symbiote-”

“And you think I’m keeping it a secret?” She snapped, anger flashing in her eyes. She was angry, yes, but far too worn out to keep up the appearance.

Her eyes shut, and she rubbed her forehead in pain. Daniel reached across the table to gently squeeze her other hand.

“I think you had a traumatic experience and need help remembering everything that happened to you,” he reassured her soothingly.

The flare of anger still in her eyes dissipated, and she managed a nod. Daniel continued, having her tell him her story from the beginning. As she recounted everything that happened, he saw her struggling to remember. She was still new to the wonderful world of the Goa’uld, and she’d already had one take her as host and had to suddenly keep taking a strange drug otherwise her immune system would fail. This girl had one of the worst wake up calls imaginable.

“I found an abandoned warehouse and tried to take it out myself,” she rubbed the spot on her neck absentmindedly, “but I figured it traveled deeper before it died, and I went to General Mitchell’s house and then she took me here.”

Hannah finished her story, Daniel listening and mulling over her words.

“Where did you get the supplies to perform surgery on yourself?” Daniel asked, when a sudden thought struck, hitting him over the back of his head.

“I-I don’t remember much, a store fairly close to the headquarters, I think...why?”

Daniel smiled at her, though his heart was pounding and he knew it wasn’t reaching his eyes.

“Thanks for your help, Hannah. I’ll come back and talk to you more later, why don’t you have one of the guards take you to lunch?”

He stood, briskly walking out of the room. Of course it wouldn’t have jumped into another scientist, it’d gotten enough information out of Hannah to know that it’d wind up back here. No, even if it was a homegrown Goa’uld, it’s number one goal was self preservation. It had to jump into someone who knew nothing about the Stargate program.

What better place than a local grocery store?

 

~~~

 

Something was wrong.

Ryan knew that much.

That didn’t mean he had a fucking clue what to do about it.

He still looked the same, he realized, as he stared into his bathroom mirror.

Not that being possessed would change his outward appearance.

He didn’t have control during today’s video. The whole Ricky Goldsworth gag, he thought it was just a sign he was an amazing actor. It didn’t just feel effortless, it felt _right_.

“Maybe I should schedule a visit to Father Thomas…” he muttered, staring at his reflection, trying to find anything that could be considered demonic. Anything at all.

_Maybe you shouldn’t._

Ryan jumped, smacking his hand on the sink. “Who - Who said that?”

_You don’t need to shout, I’m right here._

He cast a look around the bathroom, peeking out into the hall.

Nothing.

_“No, not there.”_ This time the voice was louder, and more importantly, sounded just like his. Ryan pulled his reluctant gaze back to the mirror.

He watched as his face twisted into a sneer. _“There you go.”_

“Oh my god I _am_ possessed,” Ryan lamented, dragging his hands down his face.

His reflection shrugged at him, an evil glint in his eyes.

_“Believe what you want,”_ he said, _“it doesn’t matter. You’re just the host, the vessel. Soon enough you’ll be out of my way.”_

Images flashed through Ryan’s head. What it was thinking, what it had done. What it wanted to do. A lot of it didn’t make sense, it wanted to be the best system lord, the only one to take control of the Tau’ri, something about the Egyptian Gods being useless. But Ryan did understand one thing.

“You’re Ricky Goldworth, aren’t you?” He asked, staring in the mirror.

For a moment, nothing happened. It was just regular old Ryan having an existential crisis in the bathroom. Until he smirked, and began clapping.

_“Bravo, get the man a medal,”_ he said mockingly, _“he’s finally solved a case for once in his life.”_

“Okay just because you’re a demon doesn’t mean you need to be a _rude_ -”

_“I wasn’t done talking.”_

Ryan’s mouth snapped shut. Whether it was from fear or something out of control entirely, he didn’t know. He didn’t want to question it either.

_“Thanks to one of your little cases, you gave me an identity. And thank goodness for the viewers.”_

Ryan’s blood ran cold. He could feel Ricky’s thoughts running through his mind, like slimy, slithering-

_“Snakes?”_ Ricky offered.

With a jump, Ryan looked at himself, hoping to see a scared expression looking back. Not a smug one.

All Ricky needed was more attention to grow stronger, to eventually overtake Ryan’s mind. With the way the fans ate the first encounter up, Ryan was already on the losing side. His heart pounded harder in his chest.

No, he wouldn’t go down without a fight. He could make this whole Ricky Goldsworth thing go away!

_“Oh, Ryan,”_ he said condescendingly, _“I’m not going anywhere.”_


	3. Chapter 3

It’d been a few months since Ryan’s...incident in the bathroom. At this point, he was starting to believe that it’d all been a figment of his imagination. Too much stress, too much caffeine, and definitely not enough sleep.

He also went and got himself blessed, so, maybe that had something to do with it.

Of course he didn’t dare bring Shane into it. He could practically hear the mocking he’d get. There goes Ryan, actually believing he’s possessed! What a hoot.

No, he didn’t need that. Besides, everything was fine now and he could just move on with his life. Which is exactly what he was doing while filming their latest True Crime episode about the murder of William Desmond Taylor. Just discussing how it could be easy for someone to disappear back in the day.

“I don’t know, I mean, I think you’re pretty fucked when he gets past the state border,” Ryan pointed out, laughing.

“Move to a new town, tell ‘em, uh, _‘Hi there! My name’s, uh, Ricky Goldsworth!’_ ”

Ryan’s heart plummeted. Why the hell would Shane bring him up now? It’d been months, no mentions of him, and now? Of course, just when he thought he was back to normal.

“Ricky Goldsworth?” Ryan all but managed, trying to keep his cool.

Shane was completely oblivious. 

“You know, if you ever get tired of doing this-”

An uncomfortable, itchy sensation prickled at the back of Ryan’s head. Like when your eyes are irritated and you have to resist the urge to rub them, or when your leg falls asleep and all you can feel is static. Painfully numbing static.

“-you could just move to a new town, tell ‘em your name is Ricky Goldsworth-”

_That’s not half bad, what do you think?_

This was just some kind of post traumatic trigger bringing the hallucinations back. There was no voice, there was no voice. There was no one in his mind except him. Still, he opened his mouth to scream at Shane to stop fueling these intrusive thoughts in his head. To his horror, only an agreeing “yeah” slipped out.

“-and you’re done, you’re set for life!”

“Yeah, I’d tell them that,” Ryan said smoothly.

No. Ryan wasn’t saying anything.

Ryan’s vocal cords were currently the puppets for something much more sinister.

“I want the top house, I want the top room-”

“You can’t just move into a town-”

Shane, you idiot, don’t interrupt this madman! Ryan tried to take control back, to warn Shane not to be such an asshole, but with every attempt he felt Ricky _laughing_ at him.

“You can’t just move into a town and take a house!”

This long legged fool.

“I don’t think you heard me.”

He heard the barely restrained anger in the undertone of his voice smoothed over with the suave factor. This thing was good. Too good.

“Exc- what?”

“I want the best house in your neighborhood, and I want it stocked with food,”

“Sir-”

“Furnished… And I want servants as well. I want butlers, and you’re gonna be one of them.”

As he spoke, Ryan could feel the barely restrained anger Ricky felt towards Shane. It felt like a leech sucking life out of his very soul, a white hot fire in his brain that needed out as soon as possible. Images flashed through Ryan’s mind, how exactly Ricky planned on killing Shane as soon as he had total control over Ryan’s body.

And Shane thought it was all a fucking joke.

“Sir, you can’t- I’m not gonna be a butler! I’m the mayor, Sir!”

A devilish grin spread across Ryan’s face as Ricky spoke. “No. That’s not how this is going down.”

“Oh shit,” Shane breathed, staring straight into the camera.

Whether or not he was hamming it up or was legitimately scared, Ryan didn’t know. He had to know something was up at this point, right?

“Your outfit’s in my car, I’ll expect you at my house, later, 8 AM. Leave the keys under the mat.”

Well this was reaching a dangerously kinky level that Ryan wanted nothing to do with.

“Yessir Mister Goldsworth.”

Goddammit Shane.

Ricky sighed heartily, leaning back and getting comfortable in the chair. Immediately Ryan made a grab at control, Ricky still wasn’t strong enough to take complete control so he still had a chance.

But nothing happened.

“Good Goldsworth - What a story!” Shane laughed, turning back to look at Ryan, expecting him to laugh and agree.

Instead he was met with Ricky’s evil cheshire cat grin.

“Gold..Goldsworth is...really coming into his own…” He trailed off as Ricky stared him down.

“You talking to me?” Ricky asked playfully. Like a cat toying with the mouse before going in for the kill.

Something snapped, and just like that, Ricky was gone. Not even the faint buzzing in the back of his head.

Ryan burst into relieved, uncontrollable laughter. Shane joined in, also relieved that the bit was seemingly over. As much as he wanted to, he didn’t reach over and throttle Shane for playing into the dumb fantasy Ricky was spinning. And Shane went along with it like some buffoon. No, he’d save that for another day. Again, Shane would probably laugh in his face anyways. Now he could fight another day, and this time he’d make sure to get to the bottom of this Ricky Goldsworth problem.

~~~

_Ricky didn’t know what happened._

_One moment he was at the top of the world, The Tall One was playing along in his scheme, and his host was just along for the ride._

_And then he lost everything._

_It was like someone flipped a switch and suddenly he was falling in an empty black abyss. He couldn’t even hear, see, or think anything his host was. It was unnerving, to be completely alone. Is this what it’d been like, before he’d left that test tube and was introduced to that scientist?_

_Very unnerving indeed._

_Blast it, all the preparing he’d done to ensure himself a larger role in that episode. All gone to waste._

_Maybe he’d taken the wrong approach. Maybe allowing his host to think it was all in his head had simply made him weaker. One less person thinking about him. Maybe he needed his host to be thinking about him constantly._

_Yes._

_This could work._

~~~

Shane wasn’t too sure how he missed it.

Which one of their ghost misadventures it was the led them here, he couldn’t be too sure.

Whoever it was, they were good. Shane had to admit that much.

Or maybe they weren’t all that good and he was just rusty. It’d been more than thirty years since he’d been in Hell, after all.

No, his senses were still on point. This had to be some young upstart, just a blip on his radar, trying to punk him.

A foolish choice.

Which is why Shane was currently standing over Ryan’s bed, well after he’d fallen asleep. It’d taken him a painfully long time to do so, all while Shane stood twiddling his thumbs in the shadows. He should’ve brought a Gameboy or something.

When it’d been several minutes since Ryan seemingly fell asleep, Shane figured it was safe enough to come out. Didn’t need Ryan waking up and freaking out over why Shane was in his room. That was a conversation that didn’t need to happen.

Shane placed his hand on Ryan’s forehead, skimming the man’s brain for evil entities.

“I don’t know who you are,” Shane whispered into the darkness, searching through Ryan’s mind, “or who you think you are, but you should know that this human is under my protection.”

Ryan’s eyes popped opened. Immediately he knew it wasn’t Ryan.

“And anyone who messes with him, well,” he grinned a malicious grin, “they have to answer to me.”

~~~

_Ricky really had no need to sleep, but he did like to...observe why...others might like it._

_He was observing said ritual when he was woke to the cold clammy hand of death on his head._

_Oh, wait, it was just The Tall One._

_Wait a minute._

“And anyone who messes with him, well,” _The Tall One grinned maliciously down at Ricky,_ “they have to answer to me.”

_Ricky’s eyes flicked around in confusion. This was a...strange sensation. For many different reasons._

_Only Ricky woke up, his host hadn’t. There was no annoying nagging in the back of his mind, just sweet, sweet silence._

_And also The Tall One was standing in his room...with his hand on his head._

“Get off me,” _Ricky spat, sitting up in his bed._

_The Tall One removed his hand, still glaring at Ricky. For a goofy looking disproportionate man, he managed to look intimidating in this moment._

“Clearly you’re not the brightest demon, or you’ve just been hiding under a rock for the past few years, but Ryan Bergara is under my protection. And you really don’t want to be on my bad side, do you now?”

_When Ricky said The Tall One’s Eyes darkened, he meant it literally. It was like the opposite of when the eyes of a Goa’uld lit up with a glorious blinding light. Instead, they absorbed the light surrounding them into the two pools of darkness._

_Ricky couldn’t let him know how unsettling he found it._

“You have no power over me,” _Ricky laughed._

_The Tall One crossed his arms over his chest expectantly. You want answers? Well. Don’t we all._

“Enlighten me, O Wise Intruder.”

“If you try to take me out, if you even think of trying to get anyone else to take me out, I can end this worthless mortal life on the spot,” _He hissed, holding The Tall One’s angry gaze._

“And what’s to stop me from going in there and punting _your_ worthless self back to Hell?”

_Oh, now Ricky understood. The Tall One thought he, of all things, was a demon! Well, he was sorely mistaken. And severely unprepared._

“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” _Ricky smirked._

_To punctuate his words, he summoned all this strength to make his eyes glow. Well, glow was a stretch. It lasted long enough to light and then die like a shoddy lightbulb. Ricky watched in pure bliss as The Tall One’s gaze shifted from anger to slight worry. Oh yes. Simply delightful._

“What _are_ you?” _He asked, more accusing than afraid. But the fear was still there._

_And Ricky reveled in it. ___

____

“I don’t have to answer to the likes of _you,_ demon,” _Ricky snapped haughtily. His eyes widened with realization, and settled down with a smirk. ___

______ _ _

“And now I know your big bad secret that you’ve worked ever so hard to keep a secret from my host,” _he said innocently, watching the blood drain from The Tall One’s face. His eyes reverted back to normal._

______ _ _

“You wouldn’t, you - what makes you think he’ll believe _you?_ ”

______ _ _

_With an eye roll, Ricky crossed his arms over his chest. At this point he was just grasping at straws and he knew it. The Tall One seemed to gather that Ricky wasn’t buying it._

______ _ _

“If you put a cork in it, I don’t see us having a problem here,” _Ricky spread his hands innocently,_ “You know, for your secret’s sake...and this mortal’s life.”

______ _ _

_The Tall One said nothing. Nothing but held his gaze with a glare for a long time. He stood, moving to the shadowy corner. The shadows seemed to pool towards him._

______ _ _

“If you hurt him…”

______ _ _

_He left, the threat hanging thick in the air._

______ _ _

_Or what, demon?_

______ _ _

_Or what?_

______ _ _

______ _ _

~~~

______ _ _

______ _ _

Ryan would’ve liked to say he woke up refreshed and ready for the day. Instead he woke up groggy and aching. With a groan, he rolled over to check the time. Hopefully it’d be the early hours of the morning and he could go back to sleep and catch up on some z’s.

______ _ _

Nothing could ever go his way, could it?

______ _ _

“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, leaping out of bed.

______ _ _

Instead of the morning, it was the late afternoon! What was he, 17 again? He even went to sleep early last night!

______ _ _

_I knew you humans enjoy your sleep, but I didn’t know you would waste so much time to do it._

______ _ _

Ryan clenched his jaw, determined to not let it know how scared he was. Rumbling laughter tore through his mind.

______ _ _

_I’m in your brain, you fool, do you really think you can deceive me?_

______ _ _

“You’re a figment of my imagination, if i ignore you you’ll go away,” Ryan muttered, never mind not fully believing it.

______ _ _

_Now that just hurts. And after everything I did for you this morning!_

______ _ _

Come again?

______ _ _

_This morning, host, keep up._

______ _ _

A loud, crisp snapped rang through Ryan’s head, causing him to flinch in pain.

______ _ _

_Ooh, that was cool!_

______ _ _

Another snap followed.

______ _ _

“Stop it, you - you -” Ryan hesitated.

______ _ _

Ricky seemed to be waiting for the insult to land.

______ _ _

“Demon-fuck.”

______ _ _

There was silence. Huh, maybe Shane insulting them actually proved to be useful!

______ _ _

_What, were you expecting a round of applause? A gold medal? That was mediocre at best._

______ _ _

Of course it wasn't so easy.

______ _ _

_Your insult game needs work._

______ _ _

“I’m not taking advice from a demon, oh whatever, just - what happened this morning?”

______ _ _

Silence.

______ _ _

Well, he probably shouldn’t be having a conversation with the demon in his mind anyways. His stomach rumbled in agreement. Maybe he'd feel better about this all after putting some fuel in the tank.

______ _ _

He walked down the stairs, immediately greeted by the sound of someone pounding on the door and a completely torn up living room.

______ _ _

“What the hell?” Ryan muttered to himself.

______ _ _

The couch was flipped over, the cushions thrown off, everything from the tables was laid neatly on the ground. Nothing was broken except for Ryan’s living room arrangement. It was just to send a message.

______ _ _

_See? I got donuts!_

______ _ _

True to his word, there were in fact donuts sitting on his kitchen table.

______ _ _

“You little-”

______ _ _

The pounding on the door grew louder.

______ _ _

“Shit,” Ryan cursed, he’d forgotten all about that!

______ _ _

Shane stood behind the door.

______ _ _

“Hey man, did you just wake up?” Shane asked.

______ _ _

He looked like he was about to laugh, but there was another expression that Ryan couldn’t exactly pinpoint.

______ _ _

_Ugh. This guy again?_

______ _ _

“Again?” Ryan muttered in confusion.

______ _ _

Right after realizing he looked like a crazy man talking to himself. But Shane didn’t laugh at him, or say anything weird at all. Instead he looked...borderline pissed.

______ _ _

“Yeah, yeah, sorry...I guess I had a…” he glanced back into the destroyed living room, “crazy night.”

______ _ _

He scratched the back of his neck absentmindedly, still looking at the mess.

______ _ _

“Did you call?”

______ _ _

To be honest he was still groggy. It’d been a tough morning...afternoon already.

______ _ _

“Maybe once or twice.”

______ _ _

“Sorry.”

______ _ _

“You want some help cleaning that up?”

______ _ _

Shane nodded to the mess, the ghost of a teasing smile on his face. It didn’t quite reach his eyes.

______ _ _

“Yeah, sure, if you don’t mind. Apparently I have donuts.”

______ _ _


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I updated this! Life has been really crazy but I'm going to try to not have such a long gap like this without posting. Sorry again and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

At this point, Sam was convinced she was going to go insane. It’d been months, _months_ since Hannah came to her with the symbiote situation, and months since Daniel figured that the symbiote jumped into someone at a local grocery store. But they’d scoured hours, days of footage from dozens upon dozens of stores, visited hundreds of people for an “interview”, and came up empty handed. Wherever it was at this point, it’d survived and was feeding off of some random person that for whatever reason they couldn’t track down. Finding the head of the project didn’t even feel like a victory at this point. It was good he was finally behind bars and they could hopefully put the TRUST behind them once and for all, but he couldn’t help them find the missing symbiote.

Hannah wasn’t much help either, she was so freaked out at the time that she couldn’t really remember what happened in October, so naturally she wouldn’t remember months later. Time didn’t help with this one.

Jack and Daniel went back to Washington when they couldn’t help anymore, Teal’c and Vala had nothing else to do after they ran out of suspects, so Sam and Cam were really the only ones working on it anymore. Not that there was a whole lot to work on. The only thing she was really succeeding at was staying up all night worrying about how this would blow up. Everybody still wanted in the loop, but that was hard to do when the loop wasn't going anywhere.

“You still thinking about it?” Cam asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

She sighed. “I know it’s out there somewhere and it’s driving me nuts that we can’t find anything while it’s doing God knows what.”

Cam nodded, with a frustrated sigh. “Yeah, it's driving me nuts too.”

“Hey, you guys, I thought you wanted a break from work?” Cassandra popped in from the kitchen, crossing her arms across her chest.

“You’re right, we’re sorry,” Cam conceded with a laugh.

A couple weeks ago Sam had been talking with Cassandra about how much stress she was under to solve the case, from herself and from the IOA. In turn, Cassandra offered to visit with her kids. Cook, clean (not that there was much to clean) and give them some company other than the two of them. Anything and everything to take her mind off of it, even if it was only temporarily. Tonight in fact, Teal’c and Vala were supposed to come join. It’d been forever since Teal’c had seen Cassandra and Vala hadn’t even met her yet. Quite the full house.

“NYOOOOOOM!”

Right on cue, Ben, Cassandra’s youngest, came running in from the guest room with his toy plane. Zipping right by Sam and Cam to whip around the coffee table, and in the process, bumped into his sister, Cassandra’s oldest.

“Watch it!” Jane snapped, popping out from behind her video.

“But they have to take cover!” Ben protested, gesturing to the table.

"Not over here you don't!"

"Oh-kay," Cam interrupted, hopping off the couch. In one swift motion, he scooped Ben up on his way. The 7 year old struggled for a minute, before Cam set him on his shoulders.

“C’mon, Captain, let’s go outside.”

With a cheer, Ben nodded enthusiastically. Cam winked back inside as he headed to the backyard, and Cassandra mouthed a quiet 'thank you' in his direction.

Rolling her eyes, like any preteen would, Jane went back to her video.

From the kitchen doorway, Cassandra rolled her eyes (Sam wondered where Jane got _that_ from...) and threw her hands up in defeat. She went back into the kitchen.

“Hey, Jane, what are you watching?” Sam prodded, leaning forward with interest.

Jane paused yet again, this time looking happier to have someone to share with.

“It’s called Buzzfeed Unsolved! They actually have two series and one goes over famous unsolved cases and the other they go ghost hunting. I like Supernatural better,” Jane wrinkled her nose, “but I watch True Crime and the Postmortem for the Hot Daga.”

Wow, those were a lot of words Sam didn’t understand. Guess being a General didn’t help with decoding her grandniece’s “fandoms”.

“Mind if I watch with you?” She asked, gesturing to the spot next to Jane.

"Sure!”

Sam got up and sat next to Jane as she resumed the video.

“This is their Q&A, by the way,” she prefaced.

On screen were two men about Cassandra’s age discussing Thomas Edison. Oh boy, the whole Thomas Edison debate never got old. The one on the left didn’t seem to be a big fan, but the other one seemed to shut the debate down. They quickly moved on to another question.

“Has Ryan addressed his secondary career as Bruno Mars’ backup dancer?”

That was clearly a throw away question, why on earth did they approve that?

Well, huh, it does actually look like him, in a way.

Why did people watch this show, anyways?

“Now, you may not be aware of this, but every now and then, um,” The one to the left began hesitantly, “I think you sort of black out and become someone named Ricky Goldsworth?”

Sam gasped out loud. That sounded pretty familiar.

“Who’s Ricky Goldsworth?” the right one, Ryan, asked quickly.

“I know, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to you,” the other one said, an underlying tone of annoyance in his voice, “what if you also sometimes black out and become the other person who is a backup dancer for Bruno Mars?”

Sam noticed Ryan’s face shifted into a cool, collected mask as the other one spoke. But then it slipped away and he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Like he was trying to fight back.

“Troubling!” The other one observed.

A sharp note on the violin in the background music caught her attention.

“Keep your mouth shut Long Legs.”

Oh no, this was definitely not good.

They cut away to a different question. Sam reached out to pause the video, wheels spinning faster than they had in awhile. Jane looked over at her like she’d lost it. All this time and it’d been right in front of her. She’d just been looking in the wrong places.

“I need you to show me everything about this Ricky Goldsworth.”

 

~~~

 

“A _ghost_ hunter?” Jack asked, disbelief written all over his face.

“Well, cryptids if you will. Anything unsolved,” Daniel corrected absentmindedly, skimming through the file they had on this Ryan Bergara.

“The snake sure knows how to pick em,” Jack mused, reading over Daniel’s shoulder.

Daniel hummed in agreement. They were still waiting for Sam to finish going through his credit card records, from July to October, just to be safe. The symbiote had apparently had just enough control over Hannah to get her to unknowingly go to a grocery store miles, hours even, away from where she'd camped out. And a combination of it influencing her and her being so terrified, she didn't think twice about it. But now, given the time frame and the footage from the grocery store he'd gone to, they’d be able to find out exactly what and when it happened.

If it was him, even. That question still hung untouched in the air.

Part of Daniel wanted to believe that after months, they’d found their culprit. But the other part of him had to wonder if Sam was just grasping at straws at this point. He’d watched the episodes she’d sent them, it _could_ be the symbiote, or it could just be a very strange bit. He knew that the others felt the same, but didn’t dare bring it up.

“And if it is him, we’d be risking national security to tell him what happened. You’ve seen what he does, he talks about aliens and government conspiracies for a living!” Daniel vented out loud.

The case was definitely stressing them all out. It was ingenious actually, even if the symbiote hadn't known what it was doing at the time. It'd chosen a host that would jeopardize the program no matter what they did. The IOA definitely did their best to make sure they didn't forget.

Jack began to massage his shoulders, still focused on the paperwork.

“It’s a risk we have to take. This guy looks like he scares easy, I bet we threaten him with life in solitary confinement and he’ll keep quiet.”

“...That’s terrible.”

“But proven time and time again that it works.”

Sighing a laugh, Daniel closed the file and leaned back to kiss Jack.

“So you're gonna threaten this poor kid?” he smirked after they broke apart.

“Youbetcha,” Jack smirked down at him. "So, when should we head over?"

 

~~~

 

The past few weeks had been hell. Maybe that was it, maybe Ryan was dead and this was his eternal torture! It made sense, all the stories he’d heard about possession didn’t sound like what he was experiencing at all. This had to be his own fucked up personal damnation.

_You’re not dead you big baby._

Goddamnit.

_"I love you, Ricky! You’re so fun to talk to, Ricky!"_

“Fuck off,” Ryan muttered.

_You make me feel so unloved when you shut me down like that._

“Oh my god, stop watching reality tv when I’m 

_supposed_ to be sleeping!”

_You’re just mad cuz you know I’m right._

“Why am I even doing this,” Ryan dragged a hand down his face.

For weeks he’d been like this. Non stop talking. Day and night. One night he woke up to find himself sitting on the couch, Ricky watching some weird soap opera. And because of these late night antics, he was tired and grumpy all the time. Shane was even starting to notice. He offered to drop by with fast food, which wasn't exactly out of the norm, but in this case he knew it was a classic case of _"have some food, you've been a giant dick lately!"_. Not that he'd said it outright, but the intent was clear.

That was the other thing, there was starting to be a serious strain on their friendship. Ryan couldn't just constantly bitch at Shane and then expect everything to be fine. Not that he did, but he had to hope Shane didn't ask too many questions that he couldn't answer. Or maybe he was being paranoid. It wouldn't be too surprising.

_Can we move on from this train of thought? It’s boring._

“I’m so sorry I bore you, maybe you should leave then?”

_You’d miss me._

“I really wouldn’t.”

_Your fans would miss me._

Okay, he had a point there. But Ryan could pretend to be Ricky just fine.

_Oh could you now?_

“Will you stop that?”

_Face it, Ryan, you’re stuck with me._

Just then, the doorbell rang. Must be Shane with his fast food delivery. Ryan opened the door, and yep - he was spot on.

_You need more friends._

“Nice of you to drop by,” Ryan greeted, pointedly not acknowledging Ricky.

“Yeah, well, you seemed stressed out so I figured - food!” Shane held up a bag from Burger King.

“That sounds about right.”

_Fast food isn’t good for you._

“You’re not good for me!” Ryan thought furiously back.

He stepped to the side so Shane could come in, and then shut the door behind him.

"So, you wanna go over episode ideas for the next season?" Ryan asked as he rummaged through the bag.

"This early?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"I dunno, seems a little too soon for that." Shane popped a fry in his mouth.

_Not to mention you've been a royal pain in his ass._

"Look who's talking!" Ryan shot back, putting as much venom into his thought as possible. No response.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He answered.

As Ryan began to unwrap his burger, the front door slammed open with a bang.

"What the hell?!"

"What the fuck is going on?"

The two of them stood frozen as what looked like SWAT crowded into his house. All of them with guns, pointed at him.

_Oh no._

" _Oh no?!_ What the hell do you mean-"

"Ryan Bergara, you need to come with us." One of the ones in front demanded.

Shane looked over him, a cross between confusion and disbelief on his face. Ryan stammered for a few seconds.

"I-I don't think I have much of a choice here." He finally said, still not moving an inch.

_Of course you have a choice. Let me handle this._

"What did you do?" He thought back sharply.

The man readjusted his grip on his gun, and gave him a vicious sneer. "That depends on how long you want to live."

Ryan's blood ran cold, and whatever words he planned on saying stuck in his throat. This guy looked like he was ready and willing to shoot if Ryan so much as looked at him the wrong way.

Shane anxiously ate another fry.

"Stand down!"

A woman marched into the house, heels clipping hard on the floor. Each clip punctuated the anger radiating off her. Her fists were clenched so hard Ryan wouldn't be surprised if they left marks, and her eyes blazed. All the men reluctantly lowered their weapons, except for the one in front.

"Did I stutter, Colonel? I said _stand down_."

"With all due respect General, we have this thing right in our sights, we might as well take it out before it tries any funny business."

The man's eyes were cold and hard and glaring directly into Ryan's.

"This was supposed to be a quiet mission to capture _just_ him. Now _stand down_ and cuff them _both_."

Reluctantly, he put his gun down, and the others followed his signal and ran over to cuff the two of them. The General turned, and her eyes locked with Ryan's. They didn't waver in their anger. She flicked her eyes over to Shane, who was protesting the theft of his fries, and turned back to the Colonel.

"He wasn't supposed to be here, and you can expect me to report _every single one of you_ to your IOA bosses and the president!"

One of the guys holding Ryan back, like he'd be stupid enough to try anything, snapped the cuffs on tighter, muttering angrily under his breath. The General turned and stormed out of the house. Ryan's voice finally came back, and all he had came tumbling out. A lot of, what the hell just happened, what the hell _is_ happening, and more incoherent babbling as they marched him out the door and into unmarked vans. He knew Shane was trying to talk to him, but he couldn't focus. Questions and panic ridden thoughts swirled around his mind so rapidly he thought his head might explode, until one thing cut through all of it.

_You should've let me handle it. Now you've doomed the both of us._


End file.
